I love mushrooms. I love the bouncy yet meaty texture, and I love the different tastes imparted by different varieties of mushrooms!

One of my favorites is the king oyster mushroom, pictured below in the front:

Picture from wikimedia

King oyster mushrooms are very hearty mushrooms that I like to describe as baseball-bat shaped. Tim has referred to them accidentally as prince mushrooms 😀

These king oysters are great in hotpots and well as soups. I’m sure they would also be fantastic on the grill! The appearance, taste and texture of the king oyster mushroom is similar to that of the Nebrodini Blanco mushroom, which our favorite chefs at KooZeeDoo grilled to perfection when they were still in business.

King oyster mushrooms are also “meaty” enough that I once included in the spread of dishes I made for two college boys (one with quote a voracious appetite, might I add). They said that they were full and satisfied, and that they couldn’t believe they had had a meatless meal! This was in my Cafe 1010 days, which is a different story for a different post.

Okay, so I had these king oysters in the fridge, and I needed to use them up before our trip to Chicago over the long weekend. I have been trying to remember to cook with a variety of colors, so I whipped something together. It turns out that these ingredients went pretty well together, and they are a nice and simple dish to accompany dinner.

Instructions: 1) Cut the king oyster mushrooms in half crosswise. Use your hands to tear the mushrooms into strips, about the thickness of your fingers.

2) Heat oil in a wok and add the red onions when the oil is hot. On the highest heat that you can use without burning anything, add and sautee the rest of the ingredients

3) When the bell peppers are softened, add salt. When the mushrooms start to produce water, remove from heat.

Notes/Substitutions: -If you can’t find king oyster mushrooms, oyster mushrooms could also work. After that, you could also try cremini or button mushrooms. In that case, slice thickly and use 4 cups of sliced mushrooms. -Any type of Any color of onion will work fine, but I think red onion is pretty and sweet. -Any type of bell pepper color will work, as well. -Notice there is no sauce in this dish; the mushroom speaks for itself!